


Scarlet

by meyari



Series: Hospitality [5]
Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, Harems, M/M, Magic, serious injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-08
Updated: 2011-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-17 18:50:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/180086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After running a message for Lord Oliver, Roy dodges his way through a riot in the worst part of Gotham, coming across something far more important and precious than he would have expected to find in that area of town.  Getting that precious thing to safety takes more than he expects it would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scarlet

Roy grumbled as he hurried through the worst part of Gotham's slums on his way back to Wayne Manor. He understood the need for the message to get from Lord Oliver to his allies in the Royal Archery Corp but unfortunately, the afternoon had gone from quiet to a violence-filled evening marked by riots in the Narrows. In the last four blocks, he'd been threatened twice, attacked once and had to scare off a good dozen young toughs who looked too hungry to be truly impressive.

He'd seen the Dark Knights in the distance a couple of times, battling against the violence that seemed to follow King Lionel's travels around the country. As much as he wanted to help, Roy knew that he couldn't afford to do so. It wasn't worth being seen helping them, not with what that would do to Lord Oliver. The temptation didn't go away, as his mask was securely tucked away in one of his pockets, but Roy did his best to resist. Getting back to Lord Oliver's side was more important right now. He needed to be seen at the Wayne party tonight so that no one would question that message he'd run.

"Nngh…"

Roy paused, looking around for the groan that sounded entirely too much like someone on the verge of death. He didn't have to look long. Crumbled in a corner a man dressed in tight black clothes adorned with a bright blue stripe over the chest lay curled around his belly. When the man lifted his face, Roy froze and then hurried over.

"Nightwing," Roy whispered as he carefully rolled the hero over. His mask was obviously secured with magic as Roy couldn't see any strings holding the domino in place.

Nightwing blinked up at him with enough pain in his eyes that Roy wasn't sure that he knew what he was seeing. Roy winced at the site of the nasty gash in Nightwing's side. As Nightwing panted, Roy pulled out one of the spelled bandages that Lord Oliver had provided to him when he first took up the mask.

"Hold still," Roy murmured while wrapping the bandage around Nightwing's stomach.

"Roy," Nightwing whispered. "Gotta… go."

"Shh," Roy said, his heart in his throat that the infamous Nightwing knew who he was, as well as at the amount of blood that Nightwing had lost. "This will help."

As soon as Roy tied the bandage in place Nightwing gasped and stared at him. From the stunned expression, it was working properly, blocking the pain and stopping the flow of blood until the bandage was removed or the magic wore out. Roy put a hand on Nightwing's shoulder, not allowing him to stand up.

"It hasn't healed you," Roy warned him. "It blocks the pain and stops the blood but that's all. Don't think that you're going to be able to get back to wherever your hideout is without a struggle. If you'll let me, I can help."

"Of course I'll let you help, Roy," Nightwing said with a grin that seemed familiar somehow. "But we have to hurry. I have to be back soon or there'll be Hell to pay."

"Do I… know you?" Roy asked, racking his brains for any warrior that he'd met who could have pulled off being Nightwing secretly.

"Fucked me silly not that long ago," Nightwing laughed and then winced as his stomach hurt. "Though I really didn't appreciate you taking that long on the prep."

Roy's jaw dropped open as he abruptly realized who Nightwing had to be. How a harem slave became one of the Dark Knights he would never know, but it added a layer of urgency to the situation that had him scrambling through the pockets on his belt for his mask. Nightwing raised an eyebrow at Roy's urgent movements, at least until the mask emerged and Roy tied it on.

"Oh. Huh."

"That's all you have to say?" Roy said, deliberately shifting his voice into the deeper register he used as Red Arrow.

"Well, no," Dick said with a grin that was far too wry. "My legs are kind of numb. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stand up on my own."

"Great," Roy sighed. "What happened and how do we get you back where you belong without being seen by too many people?"

He shifted his bow on his back to make more room for Dick's arm and then grabbed Dick's arm to carefully pull him to his feet. The slave-hero's legs nearly gave out underneath him but after a second Dick managed to get his feet under him well enough that he supported most of his own weight.

"Turn right up here," Dick said as they headed to the opposite end of the alley Dick had collapsed in. "I like this bandage. We need to get some of them for the Knights."

Roy snorted, amused at the pleased tone of Dick's voice despite the difficulty Dick had moving with Roy. "And the injury under it?"

"The King's Joker," Dick sighed. "Superman's fighting off an evil wizard, Batman and the Red Knight are busy out at Arkham and, well."

"Well." Roy agreed with a tired sigh.

There wasn't much more to say to that. The Joker was fearsome enough opponent to take down practically anyone. Together they hobbled down the next alley and then went left, then right. Roy could hear shouting in the area, the sounds of battle, but there was no way that either of them could fight like this.

"If I say let go," Roy warned as the fighting got closer, "do it instantly, even if you fall."

"Why?" Dick asked. He looked as concerned as Roy felt about the fighting. "We're almost to the passage we need."

"Because I'll be firing my arrows before you hit the ground," Roy explained.

"Ah, got it."

They didn't quite make it to the secret passage before they were discovered. Roy snapped a warning and Dick did exactly as he'd said, dropping to the ground in a huddle that looked more planned than as though he didn't have the strength to stand. As the rioters rounded the corner and advanced on the two of them, Roy pulled and shot repeatedly, one stun arrow for each rioter flying through the air to hit them in the chest, the side, and one in the back as he whirled to flee. In less time than it took for the bodies to fall, Roy had six of them down.

He ran over and collected his arrows, making sure that no one else was lurking to attack them. When he ran back to Dick's side, Dick had managed to stand up, though he was propped against the wall and leaning heavily against it.

"That was amazing," Dick said, honest admiration in his voice. "I always heard you Arrows were good but I didn't realize how good."

"Sometime, after you're healed," Roy said while getting his shoulder under Dick's arm again, "you'll have to show me what you're capable of."

"You're so on," Dick laughed. "It's right up here."

The stretch of wall looked the same as anywhere else to Roy but Dick pressed several stones and a door opened up, allowing them to slide inside just before more rioters appeared at the end of the street. Roy was reasonably certain that they hadn't seen the door as he shoved it shut but they both held their breath waiting for a shout of discovery.

"It locks," Dick whispered. "Pull the levers towards the left and it'll be nothing more than a wall from the outside."

"You Knights have all the good toys," Roy whispered back as he locked the door and prayed the no one else would need it, grinning at the way Dick snickered. "Now what?"

"Now we head home," Dick sighed. "There's a gate we can use but we've got to go down into the sewers first."

"…Ew."

Dick's snickers were quiet enough that Roy didn't worry about anyone overhearing them. The sewers weren't half as bad as he expected as they stayed on the level where Gotham's water flowed rather than descending down to the level where the sewage flowed. It still stank but not as badly as he had been afraid.

Several times, he saw what he thought was a huge form swimming through the water but Dick reassured him each time. They made it back out of the sewers and went up nine flights of stairs, heading into a tower that looked abandoned. Roy tried not to curse, but time was running out for them and the party would be starting any time now. He was supposed to be there with Lord Oliver. More importantly, Dick was supposed to be there, on display as Lord Bruce's beloved slave.

"There," Dick panted.

He pointed across the room to an empty window that glimmered strangely in the darkness of night. Wayne Manor's bulk glowed in the distance from all the party lights, framed by the outline of the window's worn arch. Roy half-carried Dick to the window, wondering what they did next. He didn't see a way for them to activate the gate, though there were what looked like steps leading up to it.

"Up," Dick said. "Need to… be on the windowsill for it to work."

"You are insane," Roy complained. "There's no way that we can both stand there."

"Could sit on the ledge, too," Dick chuckled weakly.

His head lolled against Roy's shoulder, smearing cold sweat from his brow on Roy's neck. Instead of asking, as he already knew that the magic in the bandage had to be worn out and probably had been since somewhere on the stairs, Roy adjusted his bow again and then picked Dick up, cradling him in his arms. Warm wet blood spread across his stomach, confirming that the bandage was no longer helping Dick any more than a mundane bandage would.

"You better be right," Roy said to Dick, not expecting an answer.

"M'right," Dick mumbled. "Batman set it up. Y'don't doubt Batman."

"I suppose not," Roy said.

The steps designed to look like display shelves, making it easier to get them up to the ledge. Roy spared a moment for a quick prayer and then carefully stepped into the window's arch. Magic flared around them, dark swirls surrounded them instead of the bright colors he was used to. The next moment they were somewhere else, surrounded by shouting and worried voices.

"I don't know where he is, B," Jason yelled. "Damn it, he went off on his own again, the stupid damned idiot."

"You were supposed to team up with him," Lord Bruce snarled in a voice much darker than Roy had ever heard out of him.

It perfectly suited the armor he wore as Batman. The armor had been set aside and a proper suit put in its place. Jason was naked as a slave should be, his red helmeted armor on a stand in the corner. The faint marks that adorned his back looked as though they didn't hurt at all, which explained how he could fight after being beaten at Court. They must have been healed magically and only the appearance left behind for people to see. Neither of them noticed Roy immediately, though Clark gasped and pointed straight at them.

"Who?" Lord Bruce demanded

"How the fuck did you get in here?" Jason snapped. He looked a little spooked.

"It doesn't matter," Roy said, hurrying over to a pallet in the middle of the room. "He was stabbed by the Joker. If we don't get him to a healer soon he'll bleed out."

Roy stripped off the bandage and pulled out another one, his last one, wrapping that around Dick's side. Before Dick had given him a little assistance but now he was completely limp and unconscious. Clark helped, quivering with worry. Once Roy had the bandage secured, Dick sighed and moaned.

"Who are you?" Lord Bruce asked.

"You already know me," Roy said. He used a wipe imbued with a cleaning spell to cleanse his hands before removing the mask. Getting bloodstains out of it was always a pain. "Ask Lord Oliver about it some other time. You need to be upstairs and Dick needs healing. How are we going to handle this?"

"He snuck out," Tim said from the dark corner where he'd been sitting quietly, still wrapped in his restraints from Court. "He wanted to see you again, was infatuated with you. Someone saw him, tried to rape him, and when he fought back, he was stabbed. You saw the end of the struggle and brought him back in, say through the back door to the ballroom. That will allow an appropriately dramatic entrance to the party for everyone to see."

Roy stared at him, surprised that Tim was a part of this, too. When Tim stood up easily and walked over it was obvious that his restraints didn't restrain him at all. Lord Bruce was nodding, as were Clark and Jason.

"All right," Roy said.

"Am kind of," Dick whispered, smiling at the concerned exclamations from the others. "It'll work. Sorry, B."

"The amount of trouble you get into…" Lord Bruce sighed. "All right, that's a good plan. Are you willing to go through with it, Roy?"

"Yeah," Roy said. "I think I can be properly shocked but who's going to say all that?"

"I will," Tim said with a casual shrug. "Just make sure that you immediately head for Lord Bruce. I'll be right there with him, leashed."

Things moved very quickly after that, much to Roy's relief. They stripped Dick of his clothes, Roy reattaching the bandage as quickly as he could so that Dick didn't bleed any more than he had to. Lord Bruce ensured that Clark was properly veiled, leashed Tim and returned the gag to his mouth and then had Jason show Roy where to take Dick. The hidden stairs led up to the expansive garden around Wayne Manor. Jason quickly helped set up a scene of a scuffle, and then used a spell that created a highly believable pool of blood by expanding on the blood soaked into Roy's clothes. He ran back to the Manor, leaving Roy and Dick alone.

"So you're interested in me?" Roy asked as he counted the minutes until the bandage would no longer be effective, assessing the time left against the amount of time needed for Lord Bruce to greet his guests and ensure that the other slaves were on display.

"Mmm-hmm," Dick sighed. He sounded entirely too tired, too weak. "You were a lot of fun. I get bored easily in the harem. Gypsy blood. Don't like staying in one place."

"We're going now," Roy said, desperately worried about the exhaustion and pain creeping into Dick's voice. "Just hold on, okay?"

"Mmm…"

Dick went totally limp in Roy's arms. The panic thrumming through his body made him less than gentle as he scooped Dick up and then ran for the house. Fortunately, the back door to the ballroom was open because Roy truly didn't know how much time Dick had left. Magical bandages only did so much and if there was real damage inside of his gut, Roy didn't know if they'd be there in time for a healer to save Dick's life.

He burst into the ballroom, well aware that he had a panicked expression on his face and that he was covered in Dick's blood. Around him the noble guests gasped, a few women screaming. Roy saw Lord Oliver go bone white across the hall. Prince Lex stood at his side and he looked equally horrified.

"Lord Bruce!" Roy shouted. "Get a healer! I think your slave is dying!"


End file.
